Happy Feet (2006)

Happy Feet, for the most part, is a charming animation feature film. It is a jovial, boisterous adventure, and it packs quite a few moral themes. It also asks some very hard questions. Unfortunately, it only gives some very easy answers.
The film is about that adorable bunch of emperor penguins. The proud tribe has been living in Antarctica for ages, and they have formed honorable traditions. One such tradition, is that every emperor penguin must have a "heart song", a song which not only defines its character, but also plays a crucial part in finding its true love. Mumble, our protagonist penguin in question, suffers a fatal flaw in this respect: he'd rather dance than sing, and his dancing skills are so much better than his broken voice. As is true with many truly talented individuals in our human society, Mumble's special talents are not appreciated by his fellow peers, except his childhood friend (and love interest), Gloria, who possesses the best singing skills the tribe has seen in some time.
To keep it short, Mumble's eccentricity eventually results in him being outcast from his tribe, getting blamed as the cause of the food shortage along the way (it's troubled times for the tribe as their fish supply is drastically declining). Mumble decides to embark on a quest to find the real cause of the fish drought, and therefore clear his name. He suspects that "aliens" which are far more intelligent than them are behind all this. His suspicions are soon validated, as he encounters the "aliens" (humans, of course). Mumble defiantly and somewhat naively hopes to explain to the aliens that their actions are hurting his species, but ends up in a zoo instead.
Up to this point, Happy Feet is at its triumphant best. The hard questions asked about our morality and selfishness are inescapable, and the "quest" sequence is beautifully executed, with some epic scenes (somehow reminding me of Lord of the Rings: the Return of the King, as Fredo begins his final march upon Mount Doom).
What goes from there, however, is a let-down. Indeed, the film-makers could hardly be scrutinized for offering a series of childish answers building up to the happily ever after ending - this is a children's film, and there are no easy answers to those questions, after all - but it does leave a strong taste of disappointment.
Despite the let-down, Happy Feet deserves applause. It is a proud achievement, and you'll undoubtedly be thinking about some of those questions hours after the film has ended.
7/10